Comments
Few are aware of an aeromedical ambulance system in the Philippines or that Goa had no independent nursing council until 2014. Fewer still know that these feats were made possible by two nurses.
Maria Victoria Juan, chief nurse of the Philippine army, and Nilima Rane, president of Nursing Association (TNAI), Goa, featured in the top 10 nominees for the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award (2024). Juan went on to win it.
In its third edition, the ₹2-crore award spotlights the critical role of nurses; 10 were shortlisted from 78,000-plus applicants. Alisha Moopen, Aster India’s Deputy Managing Director and Global Group CEO, says, “Post Covid-19, we felt it was really important to start talking about nurses. A lot of people left the nursing profession because of the burnout. It became quite acute. You can’t run quality healthcare without having great nurses. So we felt there was a need to shine a spotlight on them.”
Juan has impressive stories, having spearheaded the Filipino army’s first aeromedical system. “There’s already an Air Evac by the Air Force but we don’t have a dedicated air ambulance with life-saving equipment. The only mission is to get patients to the hospital. So, I asked the board for a dedicated ambulance for our soldiers... it’s already happened and we have saved the lives of 10 combat casualties this year alone,” says the veteran nurse with 34 years’ experience, who also pioneered the integration of vetiver grass in patient environment to combat soil erosion and water pollution. During Covid-19, she helped train troops to transition into medical health swabbers.
Fight for rights
Nilima Rane, president of Nursing Association (TNAI), Goa
Rane’s battle started much earlier — namely convincing her parents to allow her to take up nursing. She continued her battle for nurses’ rights, including asking State authorities to set up a nursing council in Goa.
“Nursing councils register licences, courses, new institutes, do inspection. We had to go to the Maharashtra Nursing Council for this. I drafted the Goa Nursing Council Bill in 2008 and it was passed in 2012. The council was established in 2014 and we now have over 5,000 registered nurses and five private hospitals in the State,” she says.
She believes awards encourage nurses and help spread awareness on the issues they face, including irregular salaries, low manpower and hazardous working conditions.
Encouraging young people to take up this career, she says, “Nursing is a noble profession... Compared to other professionals, I feel nurses are getting jobs faster.”
Juan urges them to become more confident. “I have noticed that nurses sometimes think they are subservient to doctors or fellow healthcare workers... we can do so much because we are the ones near the patients. Nowhere (else) in the profession will anyone trust you with their body, their loved ones. We must reciprocate that. Go ahead, take up nursing, you’ll never go wrong with it,” she declares.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.